Follow the money down the aisle

Bryan Cones|Print |Share

blog

California's Proposition 8, if passed today, will overturn a recent California Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex couples to marry. Those in favor and opposed have spent a staggering $70 million on the campaign. Among the high-profile contributors favoring passage: The Knights of Columbus, whose New Haven, Conn. headquarters has pitched in a staggering $1.4 million according to a database[1] of contributors; the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops added $200,000 and produced a couple of YouTube videos[2] against same-sex marriage to boot.

That's a lot of money and effort, and it leaves me wondering: Would that money be better spent distinguishing religious marriage from its civil counterpart in the public imagination, or even helping folks actually stay married?